Spreading the disease of knowledge. Keeping you informed of the problems caused by the most dangerous threat to our planet... ourselves, and reporting on possible solutions to those problems.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Warring with the elephants

Less than 20 years ago, around the small farming town of Balai Raja, Indonesia, elephants had 40,000 acres of of forest at their disposal. At that time there were around 1,500 elephants. On average, that's 26 acres per elephant.

The present population stands at about 400, but because of illegal deforestation and land clearing for the cultivation of palm oil, the elephants only have 500 acres of forest left. So now, each elephant has just over an acre.

As a result, the elephant population has become increasingly dangerous, frantically searching for food, and fearlessly infiltrating villages. The villagers have resorted to violent retaliation in a bid to save their homes and families.

Regardless, the Indonesian government is planning on stepping up the production of palm oil, with a target of seven and a half million acres being developed. The main use of this palm oil is to develop biofuels. It is the cheapest vegetable oil to produce, and the easiest to convert into fuel.